March 1, 2018 / Joanne Yeck

Buckingham County: Jones Store: Part I

“Jones Store House at New Store,” Virginia Historical Inventory.

Courtesy Library of Virginia.

In 1938, Elizabeth McCraw of Anderson, Virginia, surveyed “Jones Store House at New Store” for the Virginia Historical Inventory. Located on Route #609, Mrs. McCraw estimated the building was built about 1800, noting as usual that the courthouse records in Buckingham County had been destroyed by fire. She identified the Venable family as the first owners, followed by the Jones family in about 1818. At the time of the survey, C. L. Jones was the proprietor. Her description of the architecture was thorough:

This old store building is right by the side of the road, Route #609, and is noticeable, though vacant. The two large windows on the front have shutters made in three sections, also iron crossbars to fasten the shutters securely.

There are two entrances on the front; a double door entrance with transom and a large plain single door entrance. The brick foundation forms the walls to the cellar, which is under the entire building. The large store room which is entered from the front, has the original shelves and several of the old counters are still in place. Wide planks are noticeable in the floor. There are two rooms to the back and one to the side of the large store room. Two of the smaller rooms were for storage and one was the “Counting Room.” The Counting room has a large fire place, over which is a high, plain mantle. The three six panel doors have large iron locks and “HL” hinges. Very wide planks are in the floors. The rooms are ceiled with wide planks too. Overhead the heavy sleepers are left out or exposed, and these are black with the exposure of many years.

Coming next: Historical significance of Jones Store.